Defective Speech 



— AND — 



Deafness 



By LILLIE EGINTON WARREN 




^P^] 



S\ 



V 



EDGAR S. WERNER, Publisher 

108 East 16th Street, 

New York. 

1895 




<W\ 



V 







COPYRIGHT 

1894 
By LILLIE EGINTON WARREN 



PRESS OF EDGAR S. WERNER, 108 EAST 16TH STREET, NEW YORK. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

"Preface . . 7 

Chapter I. 
The Deaf -Mute and the Stammerer 13 

Chapter II. 
The Very Young Deaf Child 19 

Chapter III. 
Signs, Finger- Spelling and Speech . 30 

Chapter IV. 
Teaching the Dumb to Speak 38 

Chapter V. 

The Child Suddenly Deaf and the Child Growing 

Deaf Slowly 48 

Chapter VI. 
Hearing Can Be Improved and Developed .... 57 

Chapter VII. 

How the Hard-of -Hearing Adult May Enjoy Con- 
versation 65 

Chapter VIII. 

Dull Pupils 74 

(5) 



6 CONTENTS. 

Chapter IX. 
Invented or " Pathological " Language 81 

Chapter X. 
Lisping and Careless Speech in General 94 

Chapter XI. 
Stuttering and Stammering 101 

Chapter XII. 
Cleft Palates 110 




PREFACE. 



r I ^HERE are many children in the schools 
who have a deficient sense of hearing. 
All of them are not conscious of the fact ; yet 
the deafness may be serious enough to interfere 
with progress in their studies. Such children 
are frequently considered dull and inattentive 
pupils. Many suffer from catarrhal affections 
and thereby present a variability of hearing, 
which makes them appear to much better ad- 
vantage on some days than on others. Thus 
they add to the teacher's difficulty in distin- 
guishing them from the wilfully disobedient. If 
one ear is defective and the other not, there will 
be times when the child hears well, and soon 
after, having turned his head, he fails to under- 
stand and seems indifferent. 

The hearing of school children has been care- 
fully examined from time to time by specialists. 

(7) 



8 PREFACE. 

In one school in New York, Dr. Sexton found 
76 cases, only one of which had been previously 
recognized to be deaf. The same physician 
found that an average of 13 per cent, of all 
the pupils examined had a decided defect in one 
ear or both ears. Out of 450 cases of deafness 
in children, selected for observation in private 
and infirmary practice, 371 were attempting to 
retain their places in school. Dr. Worrell, of 
Terre Haute, Ind. , found in one school 98 cases 
of defective hearing, only one of which had 
been recognized by the teacher, and in an or- 
phan asylum 27 instances, only two of which 
were previously known. Dr. Barr, of Glasgow, 
found, out of 600 children attending the board 
schools of that city, 166 were deficient in hear- 
ing. Out of 3,588 children of Bordeaux, tested 
by Moure, 616 were found to hear a whisper 
at a distance of from only 1 to 3 metres, in- 
stead of 15 metres, which is normal. Gelle, of 
Paris, found that 25 per cent, of the pupils in 
one school of that city, presented deafness. In 
Germany, Russia and Denmark, returns show 
an almost equally alarming high rate of varia- 



PREFACE. 9 

tion from the normal ; and one authority, Weil, 
insists that every inattentive child should have 
his ears examined. 

Censns returns give surprising accounts of the 
number of totally deaf persons — so-called deaf- 
mutes — to be found in this country. It was 
estimated in 1880 that there was one to less 
than every fifteen hundred inhabitants, and the 
census of 1890 gives a larger per cent. The 
latter fact is not necessarily due to an increased 
number in proportion to other persons in a com- 
munity, but to greater exactness in compiling 
statistics. It should be borne in mind that 
these figures do not include the adults who have 
grown deaf since childhood. We know from 
our personal acquaintance with hard-of -hearing 
people that many of them are well advanced in 
years ; this, however, should not blind us to the 
other fact that there are many comparatively 
young persons who early in adult life are obliged 
to relinquish active participation in many pleas- 
ures and duties on account of deafness. It is 
estimated that there are about three hundred 
thousand persons in the United States, under 



10 FBEFACE. 

twenty-five, who have grown deaf since their 
teens. This statement was recently made in an 
address by Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. The 
large nnmber mentioned includes those who are 
suffering from almost complete loss of aural 
power. To them should be added those who 
are somewhat deaf in one ear, those who are 
obliged to take a forward seat in church and 
public hall, and those who are conscious of a 
gradual failing of the hearing sense and are 
wondering how soon their friends will find it 
out. 

Stammering, stuttering, lisping, mumbling 
and mouthing are heard in every town and 
city. Dr. Lennox Browne says the average of 
severe forms of speech-defects is twice as great 
as the instances of inrpaired hearing. To the 
two general classes, the deaf and the defective 
in speech, must be added another which prop- 
erly belongs to the deaf, namely, the children 
and adults who receive sounds slowly, because 
they lack quick perception. There are also per- 
sons who fail to distinguish particular shades 
of sound ; this peculiarity has been called sound- 



PREFACE. 

blindness. Prof. Le Conte says that, "in so 
far as the phenomenon is physiological at all, 
the defect is timbre-deafness. But it is prob- 
ably, largely at least, a defect of perception and 
not of sensation, and therefore psychological 
and not physiological. ' ' 

The object of the following chapters is to 
show that fluent speech may be obtained and 
understood, by all who suffer from the different 
phases of deafness and the different degrees of 
imperfect utterance. 



•x- 



CHAPTER I. 



THE DEAF-MUTE AND THE STAMMERER. 

A T first glance, it would seem difficult to 
find a reason for classing the deaf-mute 
and the stammerer together. They appear to be 
widely dissimilar, yet both are sufferers in 
speech. One cannot talk because he cannot 
hear; his organs of articulation are in perfect 
condition, but his brain cannot prompt them to 
actions of which it has no perception. The other 
cannot speak smoothly and successfully because 
his brain has imperfect control of the organs of 
speech. It is thus obvious that hearing is req- 
uisite to obtain articulate language in a natural 
manner ; and, further, that to insure correct 
speech something more is needed than an ear to 
receive sounds and an auditory nerve to conduct 
them to the brain. There are many activities 
to be brought into play, the complete and har- 

(13) 



14 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

monious development of all being essential to 
ease and correctness of speech, and the failure 
of any one to perform its part leading to more 
or less serious results. 

Sounds are received by the external ear, 
which is marvelously adapted to the purpose, and 
thence conveyed by the auditory nerve to that 
portion of the brain whose function is to register 
such impressions. This path is not open during 
the infant's early days, the other senses — touch, 
smell, taste, and sight — being active before that 
of hearing; and even for a while after it might 
be presumed to be aroused, there is difficulty in 
judging fairly of its degree of susceptibility. A 
loud noise may startle by the vibration of air 
against the skin just as readily as by the ear ; a 
slight one may appear to be heard when in reality 
some other sense has happened to be the vehicle 
of impression. Hence, many intelligent parents 
have failed to discover deafness in their children 
until the latter were old enough to be expected 
to talk. 

The first positive proof of hearing is in the 
child's outcry of pleasure when affected by 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 15 

music or other sound. A connection is thus es- 
tablished between the ear and the organs of 
articulation, though it does not imply a perfect 
working of all the parts essential to correct 
speech, for there is as yet no language. The 
pretty cooing of the infant at other times is an 
aimless play of lips and tongue, unguided by the 
intellect. As the hearing becomes slightly 
aroused, linguistic sounds are indistinguishable 
compared with certain others, but are in some 
way associated with the human face, which, to 
the little being, looks like a white space. No 
relation is perceived between the mouth and the 
sounds it gives forth, so that the speech of the 
normal child is not aided by watching that organ ; 
he cannot even imitate any position of it after 
being able to speak unless he hears something 
accompanying the movement. Those about the 
little one talk to it constantly, repealing over 
and over certain forms of endearing speech and 
common phrases until they become expressive of 
meaning. It is believed that the child does not 
grasp the complete word, but some portion— a 
vowel, perhaps — fastens attention and serves to 



16 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

arouse interest the next time. "Weeks and 
months of listening follow ; then come efforts to 
repeat what has been heard, attempts that are 
crude and widely different from the speech-mod- 
els. Yet no one doubts the child's ultimate 
success. He gains in confidence, secures sounds 
more nearly a repetition of those he has heard, 
and thus, through the familiar baby-talk, grows 
in ability to reproduce accurately. All this 
means a memorizing of sounds, syllables and 
words, and leads to their grouping to express 
thoughts and wishes, involving grammatical con- 
struction and bringing into action faculties of 
higher rank than mere memory. 

The various phases of speech- disturbance not 
dependent upon a malformation of the organs of 
articulation, such as a cleft-palate, are due to 
some defect in these channels. One child may 
hear sounds in general, but cannot understand 
spoken words because it has as yet no storehouse 
for word-images ; another may use a small num- 
ber of words and be without ability to give them 
grammatical arrangement; others may frame 
sentences with noticeable slowness ; or, one may 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 17 

tinderstand, jet owing to want of coordination, 
fail to repeat, while stammering and stuttering 
are indicative of some degree of disturbance in 
the regulation of the speech-impulse. In cor- 
rectly articulating sentences is secured a mental 
development obtainable in no other wav* 

Such being the case with children who make 
an attempt to talk, what is the condition which 
leads to complete dumbness? It has been sup- 
posed to be a defect in the middle ear or audi- 
tory nerve; and such, indeed, is the difficulty in 
all instances of deafness resulting from scarlet 
fever and other inflammatory diseases, during 
the progress of which the mechanism of the ear 
is injured. A knowledge of the various activi- 
ties necessary to insure hearing, however, com- 
pels us to consider the possibilities of feeble per- 
ception of sound in children who present little 
or no history of ear-trouble. Because a child 
does not respond to noises, he should not be 
judged wholly deaf. He may suffer from, an 
extreme condition of slowness of hearing, which, 
if undeveloped, justifies the use of the expres- 
sion, suppressed hearing. If he fails to recognize 



18 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

one sound, another is made before the first has 
reached his mind. He must be taught that there 
is such a thing as sound before he can respond 
to it. The brain that fails to perceive cannot 
prompt to action. It has been demonstrated that 
this condition can be reached, and the child 
taught to use, in some degree, the power he has 
not realized naturally. 






CHAPTER II. 



THE VERY YOUNG DEAF CHILD. 

A S previously stated, touch, smell, taste and 
sight, are actively aroused before hearing, 
and perform duties in place of the ear in cases 
of deafness. All these senses are rightly con- 
sidered avenues to the brain, various portions of 
which make use of the impressions thus con- 
veyed. A person having an impaired condition 
of any one of these senses, particularly of sight 
or of hearing, is, in consequence, liable to a 
warped development. Though the others serve 
excellently as substitutes, they fail to take fully 
the place of the one defective or lacking. This 
is not noticeable in early infancy. It is difficult 
to detect the absence of hearing during the first 
twelve months. The very young deaf child goes 
through the usual baby cooing, which is an un- 
conscious action of the organs of speech, a plav 

(19) 



20 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

gone through before any will-power can be man- 
ifested in this direction. The eyes are quietly 
alert, having perhaps fewer unnecessary move- 
ments than are usual with the normal child, and 
the facial muscles possess a certain inertia. 
Later, while the hearing child is going through 
the process of listening and storing up material 
for future speech, the deaf one's eyes are taking 
in far more than is usual in early years, and 
noticing many movements made daily by people 
which seldom if ever attract the attention of 
persons endowed with a complete auditory ap- 
paratus. 

This is the first discernible characteristic of 
the child suffering from lack of orderly devel- 
opment of the speech -faculty through deafness, 
which distinguishes him from his more fortunate 
brothers and sisters. Then the playful forma- 
tion of syllables ceases, silence follows, and later 
a series of more or less unpleasantly harsh 
grunts and screams are made. The other senses 
become more acute ; the facial movements are 
exaggerated and serve to express the thoughts 
and feelings; the hands spring to the child's aid 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 21 

by feeling the shapes of various objects, and 
later going through the same motions from mem- 
ory to describe or to ask for what has been 
seen. In this way signs become a means of com- 
munication. Those voluntarily employed by the 
child are termed natural, because copied from 
what he has seen people do, and they differ 
widely from the arbitrary signs used in the edu- 
cation of deaf-mutes. The latter are developed 
by hearing persons to maintain a mental dis- 
cipline for those pupils to whom little or no 
speech is given. 

The various acts of daily life are gone 
through in pantomime, as the putting on and 
off of hat and coat, which gestures soon do duty 
to express going out and coming in. Any pe- 
culiarity of feature is noticed and imitated as 
far as possible, the child not hesitating to call 
attention to a large nose or to a deformed hand 
or foot. He should not be considered unkind 
in so doing. He is merely in an observant state, 
wholly oblivious to the effect it may have upon 
others. He is but awakening to a realization of 
his surroundings. 



22 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

This is the period when parents and others 

discover that through the sense of hearing the 

affections are reached, and that the deaf child is 

cut off from an important means of cultivation. 

Those who recall the many times that sounds 

have changed their current of thought, brought 

new views to their mental eye, and broken a 

gloomy or wilful mood, should try to realize 

what it would be to live without such influences, 

before judging harshly of the deaf one's tenacity 

of purpose and continuity of thought. 

' ' In sweet music is such high art, 
Killing care and grief of heart. " 

Constant efforts should be made to under- 
stand the child's point of view. His mental 
range is limited, indeed ; an avenue of com- 
munication, and that one of the most im- 
portant, is closed. Only half-impressions 
reach him, giving many a twist to his mind 
and puzzling his little brain. He bends all his 
energies to the one path he sees before him, the 
carrying out of his will. This is the time to 
instill obedience. Don't wait for some other 
moment; don't let him realize the power of a 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 23 

' ' scene. ' ' He can be taught now that certain 
behavior brings punishment. He is not too young 
to appreciate cause and effect as taught wisely 
and kindly in the nursery. His future happi- 
ness and usefulness depend upon this early train- 
ing. The child who is obedient has developed 
an amount of self-control that will assist him in 
every undertaking of life. It is a great injustice 
to deprive him of this shield under the belief 
that he is happy now to be allowed to break a 
toy, or play with a sharp knife, try the scissors 
on the table-cloth or strangle the cat ; and that 
sometime — some more favorable time — we will 
teach him not to do those things. That favor- 
able time never comes afterward. Now is the 
moment. There is no reason why deaf children 
should not be obedient. Their physical welfare 
more often depends upon instant obedience than 
is the case with those who hear. As they grow 
older, they have the same impulse as others to 
strike out for themselves, to be independent of 
the staying hand. They become restive under 
constant handling. Out of reach and wilful, 
they are in danger of accident ; out of reach and 



24 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

trained to obey a warning look or gesture, they 
have a means of protection. 

It is often urged that the deaf one's disposi- 
tion not to give up an idea once determined upon, 
makes it almost impossible for him to develop 
readiness to follow" another's wishes. To over- 
come this tendency is a severe trial to the 
patience of the adult in charge. Remembering 
the child's imperfect perceptions should cause us 
to avoid hasty actions. Give clear proof to him 
that you understand him, that so far as it lies in 
your power you wish to grant him every right- 
ful pleasure. If you feel it in your heart, he 
reads it in your face. Hearing is not necessary 
to enable a young mind to know its friends. 
When the time comes that you must oppose his 
will, do it firmly but gently; give him no pun- 
ishment that affords him a chance to retaliate. 
Pinching and slapping are ignoble expedients 
which he can imitate. He has no respect for 
them. Firmness of will, accompanied by calm- 
ness and what might be termed dignified forms 
of punishment, awaken his respect, and respect 
commands attention ; hence, the child is in a 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 25 

reasonable mood. He is too wise to waste 
strength in tears and kicks when lie knows they 
will be unavailing. It is the one who carries 
his point by so doing that indulges in such meth- 
ods. 

The child's conscience is formed from the 
series of impressions he receives in the decided 
approval or disapproval in the faces about him ; 
and in time those alone are sufficient to command 
obedience. Doing right from an intelligent 
perception of its utility or nature per <§<?, is far 
beyond him, but doing right because one he 
respects and loves shows him it should be done, 
is within his power and exerts a most happy in- 
fluence. Thus obedience is obtained by an 
appeal to the affections through the eye, and 
depends upon example. When this becomes a 
habit, it stimulates and develops the sentiment 
or love of justice for its own sake. Pictures 
are formed in the mind of the child by what he 
sees, and from them he reasons. Mental ad- 
vancement in cases of defective hearing requires 
obedience for its cornerstone. 

A healthy mind is dependent upon a healthy 



26 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

body ; accordingly, it is proper to consider the 
hygienic care which the deaf child requires. 
There is no disguising the fact that it is hard 
work to take care of children, and the labor is 
even greater with those that present some defect. 
It is always more or less difficult to carry out in 
practice much that we accept in theory. The 
child whose food is regulated with wise care in 
his early days is the one who will not be a slave 
to his appetite ; it is wrong to pamper to his 
whims, and later to expect intelligent selection 
and temperate use of the good things of life. A 
certain amount of nervous force must be used 
in the act of digestion ; the more that is drawn 
upon, the less there is left for other uses. It is 
quite possible to become nothing but a food- 
digesting machine, but surely there should be 
something nobler in our aspirations. 

Many children, but often the deaf ones, are 
catarrhal subjects, and their tendency to conges- 
tion of the mucous membrane may be lessened 
by regulating the quantity as well as the quality 
of food. , A distinguished authority has said : it 
is better to eat sparingly of what may not agree 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 27 

with one than too heartily of what is simple. 
There is a growing conviction that more are suf- 
fering from being overfed than underfed. Un- 
questionably, many parents would be glad to be 
instructed as to what is best, for ignorance is 
often the cause of neglect. It would seem an 
important work to enlighten the well-meaning 
but often misguided mothers of the rising gen- 
eration on the subject of food ; it would reduce 
the number of weak ones, make the strong 
stronger, lengthen life, promote happiness, and 
set in motion a chain of events that would benefit 
posterity incalculably. The world is full of all 
that is excellent for sustaining bodily health. In- 
telligent use of proper nutriment will give a good 
physical foundation, without which intellectual 
advancement and pleasures must fail to accom- 
plish their legitimate effect. The chemistry of 
food is becoming an exact science. Difference 
of opinion regarding it exists with those only 
who are not familiar with its principles. Surely 
the time has come for its application to others 
than the persons who are training for athletic 
sports. 



28 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

' ' Cold in the head " is a frequently men- 
tioned cause of ear-disease. This fact is not 
surprising when it is remembered that the 
mucous membrane lining the various cavities of 
the head, is a continuous surface. Lack of 
proper care may drive a state of congestion from 
one part to another. A susceptibility to ear- 
trouble renders the organ of hearing a weak spot 
which is soon assailed; the lining of the Eu- 
stachian tubes may become swollen, and thus 
prevent the free entrance of air to the middle 
ear, or the inflammation itself may extend into 
that cavity. It often happens that a slight 
preexisting deafness may be made known for 
the first time to the patient by a cold or a re- 
duced condition of the system. The tendency 
to ear-disease, and, indeed, to any phase of 
catarrhal affection, can be kept in check by care 
in clothing, ventilation, bathing and food. 

A discharge from the ears should never be 
allowed to continue. Salt water remaining in 
the auditory canal may cause inflammation ; and 
instances are on record of surf -bathers having 
the drum-head ruptured by the waves. Boxing 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 29 

the ear and an imperfect drying of the organ 
have been known to cause serious results. When 
the fact is remembered that the confirmed 
mouth-breather not only acquires marked facial 
peculiarities but also frequently develops deaf- 
ness, let us resolve to shut our mouths, and 
' ' stretch the nostrils wide. ' ' 



-h3#}e- 



CHAPTER III. 



SIGNS, FINGER- SPELLING AND SPEECH. 

T^T'HAT the deaf child may become if al- 
lowed to grow up without education is 
not a pleasing picture to face. The past has 
known what it is. Until a humanitarian spirit 
lifted the deaf-mute out of the depths by giving 
him instruction by signs, he was neglected, 
pushed aside, hidden from view. He was re- 
pulsive, intensely ignorant of anything beyond 
food and drink, and looked upon as an irreclaim- 
able idiot. Happily that is no longer the case. 
The sign-teachers arranged a system of educa- 
tion which put this class of persons, previously 
supposed incapable of advancement, upon the 
level of thinking, reasonable beings, living happy 
lives because useful. Such results have followed 
from giving them language. Language is the 

want of the deaf child that must be supplied be- 

(30) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 31 

fore he can progress in mental development. 
Max Muller's theory that there is no thought 
without language cannot be accepted by anyone 
who has watched a young deaf child. Thought 
certainly exists without words, but must have 
aid from them or from signs for expression and 
growth. Language, the clothing of thought, 
leads to the comparison and modification of 
ideas, the presentation of new views, the re- 
moval of false impressions, and the stimulation 
of intellectual activity. Without this vehicle of 
expression the human being is as isolated as he 
would be on a desert island, with the added dis- 
advantage of having a mind utterly incapable 
of rational comprehension of his surroundings. 
He would be the victim of every wave of sen- 
sation rushing through him, and wholly un- 
governable. We live in a world of apparent 
truths ; to the deaf child without language they 
are real. 

We are familiar with the manner in which 
language is obtained by the normal child. It is 
a long process, going on so quietly that we sel- 
dom think of its wonders. It is only when it 



32 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

fails of accomplishment through defect in the 
organ of hearing, through lack of perception 
of sound, or through malformation or absence 
of control of the organs of speech, that we stop 
to consider it. 

Being without a knowledge of sound the 
young deaf child has no idea of words ; for him 
they do not exist. He lives in a world of silence. 
The facial expressions of the people about him 
and the gestures they use are noticed by him. 
He responds with similar signs. His mother 
understands him, and he thrills with the pleasure 
of being in communication with another mind. 
A fresh impetus has been given to his thought, 
and he has taken a step in mental development. 
He has a language, meagre though it be. By 
the use of simple signs 'thus voluntarily em- 
ployed by the child and reciprocated by parents 
and friends, he grows in perception of much 
that surrounds him. An avenue has been found 
for the brain struggling for an outlet. 

If the child is sent to a State institution, a 
variety of objects are placed before him, and he 
learns to designate them by the expressive 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 33 

gestures used by the teacher. These gestures 
are devised by hearing persons, and are often 
arbitrary. Later, a list of names of objects is 
written upon a slate or a blackboard. As the 
pupil knows nothing about writing, these words 
are mysterious hieroglyphics to him ; but he is 
taught their meaning by the teacher pointing to 
an article, giving the already familiar descriptive 
gesture, and then showing the written name. 
Thus through signs the pupil is taught to write, 
and in the written word he receives his first in- 
sight into the language used by persons about 
him. What his hearing brothers and sisters 
learned in the cradle is thus revealed to him 
much later in life. He cannot pronounce the 
word, but he can write it. He learns the po- 
sitions of the hands which express the letters 
of the alphabet, and then he can spell the word 
with his fingers. 

Notice the difference between a conventional 
sign and finger -spelling. The latter is just as 
much English as the printed word. Therefore 
it is an indication of higher development when 
the child drops the sign and spells the word, 



34 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

Botli denote ideas ; the sign may be vague and 
indefinite, but the word is a specific expression 
of his thought. As he gains in ability to spell 
and write the words in the orderly arrangement 
of a sentence, the pupil becomes clearer in 
thought, his misconceptions are removed, and 
his intellectual activities are aroused and 
expanded. 

It has been said that a child is born into 
the world with more intellect than talent for 
language ; but the development of his intellect 
certainly depends upon the perception of lan- 
guage, and emphatically upon its use. It is not 
enough to have ears and to listen. One must 
give out his own thought ; he must be in recip- 
rocal relation with others. 

The deaf child taught by signs, finger-spel- 
ling and writing can make himself understood 
by others through the same mediums of com- 
munication. The written words would be 
intelligible to the many who can write, and the 
signs and finger-alphabet only to the limited 
number who are familiar with such modes of 
expression. Yet the child is not using the most 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 35 

satisfactory of all methods of communication. 
He has not spoken. He is a deaf-mute, mute 
because deaf. If he should be allowed to re- 
main in this speechless condition, he will always 
have the mark of a neglected education. Hear- 
ing is not absolutely needed for the acquiring of 
articulate speech, because the increased acuteness 
of the other senses may be used for the purpose. 
Even if the child has no articulate language 
with which to ask questions, and thus is obliged 
to gesticulate, teach him to look for replies in 
the faces of those about him. Talk to him con- 
stantly. In this way is laid the foundation to 
the speech-reading habit. Less than thirty 
years ago the deaf were not taught to speak : 
now those who are placed in the large State 
institutions may receive a greater or less amount 
of such instruction ; while all who attend so- 
called oral schools are given speech without the 
use of signs, and by speech instructed in the 
regular studies of children of their age. 

Dr. J. C. Gordon, of the National Deaf-Mute 
College, at Washington, D. C, recently stated 
that the brain-structure of those deaf pupils who 



36 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

could speak and read the lips has been found to 
be different from that of scholars who were not 
taught to articulate ; and as brain-building means 
mind -building, this is an excellent reason for 
giving speech and lip-reading to the deaf. If, 
to this knowledge of articulate language and the 
ability to understand others by watching the 
varying expressions of their faces, there be 
added some degree of hearing, brought into use 
by educative means, a fresh impetus is imparted 
to the mental growth of what might have been 
a deaf-mute. 

Many persons who possess a full vocabulary 
manifest less talent in arranging words than 
others whose stock is more or less limited. In 
the apt expression "sentence-building," we 
have light thrown upon the faculty that directs 
this work ; for one must have mechanical ability 
in order to form strong and well-constructed 
sentences. Among the deaf there is good per- 
ception of the form, size and weight of objects, 
but a hampered constructive talent. Unquestion- 
ably much of their difficulty in building sentences 
might be removed by attempts to remedy this 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 37 

deficiency. Everything that sets in motion a 
train of thought in regard to the putting to- 
gether of parts of objects, is helpful preparation 
for the language-lesson ; and all teachers who 
forget the fact that a sentence is built by me- 
chanical talent, ignore one of the chief factors 
called into action. Thus, simple gestures form 
a language for the little child ; the Carefully- 
constructed system of arbitrary signs presents a 
means for awakening and disciplining the men- 
tal faculties ; the written sentence expresses the 
more exact thought ; but speech exercises a still 
more complex nervous mechanism. If there 
should be doubt about this fact, consider the 
stammerer's case. He knows to his sorrow that 
comprehension alone avails him little, and that 
being without full command of his organs of 
articulation, he is at a positive disadvantage. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TEACHING THE DUMB TO SPEAK. 

T NTELLIGIBLE articulation in a child who 
has never heard, seems like a miracle to 
most persons ; yet it must be plain to everyone 
that such a child, while uneducated, could not 
speak merely because he could not hear. His 
vocal organs were not impaired. Speech is the 
variously modified emission of breath. The 
deaf child surely has breath enough for vital 
purposes, why not for vocal ? Use is the grand 
end of all faculties; therefore, persons who 
possess organs of articulation should exercise 
them in their various functions. Life is kept in 
the body by the air received through the nose, 
and sometimes, unfortunately, through the 
mouth ; but the person who does not know how 
to exhale the same air in speech or in song, does 

not fully develop his lungs. The dumb person 

(88) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 39 

is, therefore, especially liable to pulmonary 
troubles. By this statement I do not mean that 
everyone who speaks or sings uses his organs 
properly ; it is, indeed, often the reverse. Who 
has not noticed the audible breathing of a singer, 
by which the beauty of his, or more frequently 
her, vocalization is seriously marred ? How few 
can read aloud, even in a small room which does 
not demand any strain of voice, without feeling 
a sensation of breathlessness. Unquestionably 
there is much room for improvement in the 
lung- capacity of most people. No one, however, 
is competent to teach a cleaf child to articulate, 
who has not a scientific knowledge of the mech- 
anism of speech. 

A child's happy state is absolutely the first 
essential for securing a warm or affectionate tone 
of voice, because, even among the hearing, such 
a condition of mind relieves the vocal bands 
from unnatural tension. The prompting to 
action of the organs of speech comes from the 
affections more than from the intellect. We 
will to speak before we can go through the act 
of articulating. If moved by pleasurable sensa- 



40 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

tions, the quality of voice is smooth and agree- 
able ; but if any intensity is felt, the tone re- 
veals that condition to the alert listener. Hence, 
the first fact for the teacher to bear in mind is 
that all methods that fasten attention upon any 
part of the child's body, such as the throat or 
the chest, cause the vocal bands to act in an un- 
natural manner. The development of pure, 
resonant tones must depend upon the pupil's 
thoughts being thrown out and away from him- 
self. The purpose of voice is to reach someone. 
All vocalization made without a directing or a 
projecting of thought toward another being, 
present either in reality or in imagination, lacks 
true life and becomes smothered and dull in 
quality. 

There is no better way for the deaf child to 
exercise his lungs in a healthful manner than 
to blow papers or feathers about ; it is equally 
useful to the hearing child, though perhaps not 
so imperatively demanded. The act of blowing 
throws the air in the lungs through the relaxed 
vocal bands ; and because the child's attention is 
directed to something at a distance, there is no 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 41 

unnatural tension. The pupil is not aware of 
how he is managing his breath. That is as it 
should be. In the rapid flow of conversation, 
we certainly are not conscious of how our organs 
of speech are acting, or, rather, we should not 
be. If we are, there is manifestly some defect 
in our speech, and the seriousness of the defect 
is in proportion to the amount of our conscious- 
ness. 

The foundation of a structure should be well 
laid; the action of the pupil's lungs, accord- 
ingly, should be correct. That being assured, 
one is well supplied with the material of speech 
— the breath. The next step in attaining good 
articulation is to secure the adjustment of the 
vocal bands that will convert this breath at will 
into pure voice. This is attained by a careful 
approximation and tension of the cords; and 
the teacher who understands the proper work- 
ings within the wonderful voice-box, as the 
larynx is termed, will produce results with the 
pupil's delicate instruments that the ear will 
recognize as agreeable tones. 

The voice formed in the larynx is molded 



42 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

into the numerous vowels by various positions 
assumed by tongue, lips and soft-palate, and 
into consonants by decided actions of the same 
organs. Vowels are the life of speech ; in them 
lies expressive voice. The consonants are the 
receptacles giving temporary limits to the vocal- 
ized breath. Thus the secret of agreeable voices 
among the deaf is instruction based upon per- 
fect action of the edges of the glottis. This 
assured, vowels and consonants may be com- 
bined, and thus words are formed. The hear- 
ing child has listened for months before attempt- 
ing to talk, having gradually gained confidence 
in the use of his own organs, and imitating as 
nearly as possible the sounds he hears about him. 
His first efforts are very crude. Yet, as we 
have already recognized, no one doubts his suc- 
cess. Let the same confidence be manifested 
toward the deaf child in his early lessons. It 
will be seen that care in securing correct posi- 
tions for sounds brings out lines of beauty in his 
face, which was previously disfigured by un- 
pleasant and unnecessary movements. 

How is the pupil to understand the meaning 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 43 

of the words he learns? It is necessary to 
explain them by the natural signs he knows; 
and thus his first spoken, as well as his first 
written words, must be equivalent for the same 
objects he has designated by a gesture, for the 
daily actions going on about him, or for the 
qualities he has appreciated by taste, touch and 
smell. Single words thus become intelligible to 
him. He drops the sign or the finger- spelling 
and speaks ; his vocabulary enlarges. Now a 
new difficulty presents itself. Of the grouping 
of words to form phrase or sentence the pupil 
has no knowledge. Moreover, when they are 
grouped he does not grasp the shades of mean- 
ing which they convey to the hearing person. 
He is likely to say ' ' sugar like, ' ' to express his 
fondness for the sweet; "horse car go," to 
him means ' ' I shall go in a horse car. ' ' He has 
no use for " a, " u an " or " the. ' ' He is con- 
temptuous of the changes of tense, and is baffled 
by idioms. 

No one can realize without experience the 
need of patience and ingenuity in the teacher 
who imparts language to the deaf child. No 



44 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

one can have sufficient of these qualities who 
does not strive to keep in mind the pnpil's 
limited range and thus bear with his ignorance. 
The hearing person studying a foreign tongue 
has his own language to help him. The gram- 
mar can be remembered because similar or dis- 
similar to his own ; the arrangement of words 
by resemblance or want of resemblance to the 
forms in his mother tongue. Nothing of the 
kind is present in the mind of the child born 
deaf. He knows no reason why words should 
be arranged in a certain order. Day by day, 
certain forms are repeated until, brought into 
play on every appropriate occasion, they are 
used spontaneously. Fortunately, the pupil 
does not know what is before him. Ignorant 
of the amount he has yet to learn, he absorbs 
his daily allowance of language, his ideas expand 
and his mind unfolds. All is delightful to him. 
It is the teacher who feels the great work to be 
accomplished. 

Instruction in speech through the eye culti- 
vates in that organ the ability to follow the 
varying expressions in the teacher's face as 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 45 

quickly as they appear, and thus to receive 
thought through that medium instead of by 
hearing. Persons reading this statement will 
look up at someone present, and, after watching 
the face in conversation, will wonder how it is 
possible for any being to follow the movements 
seen and thereby understand speech. They at- 
tempt too much at once. Preliminary steps 
must be taken. The little child just beginning 
to read cannot scan a page quickly. Success in 
speech -reading means an education of the eye 
secured by long practice. Its attainment by the 
deaf child grows with his knowledge of spoken 
language. The wonderful organ which gives us 
so much happiness, and which we find, early in 
life, can carry messages to the brain in behalf of 
some dormant sense, must concentrate its gaze 
upon a small space, — the human face. The 
range is limited and thus more detail is notice- 
able. Attention is not diverted by general 
movements embodying arbitrary or natural 
signs, to the hand and arm, or to the whole 
figure. There is an opportunity constantly to in- 
crease an appreciation of shades of expression, just 



46 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

as a discernment of the nice distinctions of well- 
chosen words may be attained. The result is 
that the deaf child follows in the face of another 
the details of a story with all the relish that the 
hearing would have in listening. There is no 
staring, but simply a quiet, steady gaze. 

Correct, fluent speech, with a more or less 
agreeable voice, and the ability to understand 
others by watching the facial movements, may 
be acquired by the boy or the girl suddenly de- 
prived of hearing by illness or born deaf. To 
secure these desirable gifts, the pupil must be 
educated by a system which gives speech in the 
early years and imparts all instruction through 
that medium. Prof. A. S. Hill, in calling 
attention to the poor showing in written language, 
even among the college-bred, dwells upon the 
importance of practice sufficient to enable the 
pupil to write without consciousness of the 
mechanical difficulties ; he defines that as the 
first essential in efforts to acquire a good style. 
"A boy must have written much before he can 
form his letters without special pains ; and much 
more before he can set down what he has to say 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 47 

without stumbling over punctuation, spelling 
and grammar ; and more still before be can write 
with facility. ' ' 

Upon the same principle, the deaf child must 
articulate words long before he can do so readily ; 
must speak in sentences long before he can do 
so fluently ; and must talk on every occasion to 
his teacher, to his mates, in his lesson, and in 
his play before he can do so easily to the stranger 
and in society. Practice is the only means by 
which spontaneous use of the vocal organs may 
be attained. Nothing else will do away with a 
consciousness of the mechanical difficulties. In 
this healthful exercise of the lungs lies the pre- 
vention of pulmonary diseases to which the deaf- 
mute is peculiarly subject. 



*~^ O. cr» 



CHAPTER V. 



THE CHILD SUDDENLY DEAF AND THE CHILD CROW- 
ING- DEAF SLOWLY. 

r^VlTRING childhood an illness such as 
^^^ diphtheria or spinal meningitis may 
cause serious if not complete deafness. As the 
patient recovers strength, he finds that he can- 
not understand other people. His own speech 
becomes sadly affected, thick and indistinct, and 
his voice changes to an unnatural tone ; or he 
may lose what little prattle he formerly possessed. 
If he should be under a year in age and had not 
spoken, his deafness will not be known for a 
time ; long- continued silence on his part, how- 
ever, will reveal the truth. Such a child is too 
young to realize what has befallen him; and 
though he* has perceived sounds for a number of 
months, and development of the speech-faculty 
has, in consequence, begun with him, he has little 

(48) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 49 

advantage over the child born deaf. However, 
of that little, much can be made, if his organs 
have not been so injured as to render them use- 
less. The trouble is that, too often, valuable time 
is lost before his condition is realized. 

Various intricate workings of the brain have 
slowly brought out the speech-faculty in the older 
child ; and when we remember that the moral 
effect of such an experience is great enough to 
make the use of the word ' ' hearing ' ' synony- 
mous with u obedience," it will be evident that 
his mind is in a very different condition from 
that of the child born deaf. However, he is 
just as unable to understand others. He is over- 
powered by the silence, even half maddened, 
and frequently gives way to violent demonstra- 
tions of his irritability. Great patience and 
forbearance must be exercised toward him. Yet 
the necessity for some degree of discipline is 
obvious, because he may expose himself to dan- 
ger, or injure others in his outbursts of passion. 
His articulation may become unintelligible. Not 
very many years ago, such children were forbid- 
den to speak when placed in the institutions. 



50 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

Fortunately, this cruel silencing is no longer 
enforced, and now earnest effort is made to pre- 
serve their speech, even if, in the same school, 
pupils born deaf are not taught to articulate. 

To retain the speech of the child stricken 
with deafness, is an imperative duty, but it is 
not all. He should be taught hp-reading, or 
speech-reading, as it is sometimes called. Per- 
haps he was not old enough to attend school 
before his illness ; in such cases no time should 
be lost in beginning his education. Even if he 
remains weak and languid, as he often does after 
such an experience, a few minutes of daily in- 
struction will do much for his happiness by giv- 
ing employment to his mind. 

Some authorities go to the length of calling 
lip-reading a species of sign-reading. They 
argue that the movements of the lips are signs 
made by them just as much as the motions of 
the hands are sign-meaning gestures. It may 
not be necessary to differ from this opinion be- 
yond the suggestion that the movements of the 
facial muscles are results of the actions of the 
articulating organs, and are not any special mo- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 51 

tions made for the benefit of the deaf. If such 
demonstrations are classified as signs, it may be 
as well to state that hearing is but a species of 
feeling. A light pressure upon the skin is per- 
haps recognized more quickly as a sensation of 
touch, but in reality is no more so than is the 
pressure of a wave of air against the ear-drum. 
Whether lip-reading be called a sign-reading or 
not, it is certainly a highly satisfactory method 
of communication, and use of it brings the deaf 
child or adult more nearly on the plane of the 
normal human being than anything else can. 

Sound may sometimes be appreciated by bone- 
conduction, and at times it is puzzling to decide 
whether the ears have acted or not ; for, if one 
defective ear be tested while the other is closed 
by pressure of the finger, the impression to the 
patient is that he has heard with both ears. In- 
deed, he may hear equally well when both aural 
organs are closed. Dr. Alexander Graham 
Bell converses with his mother, who is pro- 
foundly deaf, by placing his lips on one of her 
closed eyes. 

The young child rendered deaf by disease 



52 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

should be carefully studied in all these ways, and 
every means should be employed to retain a per- 
ception of sound. At the risk of repetition, I 
would urge the necessity of wise training. There 
have been instances of children suffering from 
impairment of hearing, who were allowed to do 
as they pleased until they became the terror of 
their acquaintances, and their undisciplined 
minds proved capable of devising disastrous mis- 
chief. If the child becomes completely deaf, 
he is obliged to use his eyes to some advantage ; 
but if he retains hearing enough to perceive 
loud sounds, and he is not properly trained, his 
eyes are of no more use to him than his ears are. 
He is a lawless being, noisy and unlovable. His 
lower nature develops faster than his higher, 
and his moral perceptions become blunted. 

There are many educated persons who lost 
their hearing in early childhood and retained 
their speech, but who have only recently taken 
up lip-reading. They regret exceedingly that 
they were not taught this art from the first. 
One undertook the study because a change of 
circumstances required every exertion that she 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 53 

could make. So much enlarged have been her 
experiences in consequence, that she says with 
enthusiasm that ' i the best thing that ever hap- 
pened to me was to be obliged to earn my own 
living. ' ' Others are equally eloquent in stating 
that despondency has been dissipated by this 
brightening influence in their lives. A teacher 
and editor who became deaf when fourteen has 
learned to read the lips during the last four 
years. He says that frequently it seems to him 
that he hears the words which, in reality, he 
has only seen revealed in the faces of those 
about him. Such experiences should prove the 
great importance of giving this power to every 
deaf child, but most particularly to everyone 
who has once heard and thus already possesses 
language. I would again urge that such in- 
struction be not deferred until the deafness is 
almost total. Let lip-reading be considered a 
necessary part of the education of all who lack 
normal hearing. Its use will relieve the strain 
of attention on the ears, and frequently make it 
impossible for others to recognize the aural 
defect, which would otherwise be very apparent. 



54 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

A change of circumstances has been known to 
arouse to action a small degree of hearing that 
remained after illness in infancy. An interesting 
instance was a child of American parentage born 
in India, who was brought to this country in a 
sailing-vessel. In the long weeks of quiet on 
board the ship, the little one awoke to a con- 
sciousness of vocal sounds that were before un- 
noticed, and she then made her first efforts to 
speak. 

When the deafness resulting from disease is 
but slight, the child is much more likely to be 
neglected through lack of knowledge on the part 
of his parents as to what his condition demands. 
He is sent to school, where, perhaps, the fact 
that his hearing is impaired may not be known 
by the teacher. He may be aware that he hears 
badly ; he certainly cannot turn both ears at the 
same time toward the person speaking, and thus 
in his anxiety he forms the habit of listening 
with only one ear. Both may have been equally 
good, but continual effort of attention through 
one renders the other useless. The child should 
be taught to use the left and the right ear on 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 55 

alternate occasions. His deafness may be so 
comparatively slight at first as to be scarcely 
noticeable ; but frequently that is the beginning 
of a progressive disease, which slowly shuts the 
individual out of the world of sound. He seems 
inattentive at. times. It is seen that he shrinks 
from meeting strangers, and after a while, that 
he understands when one person talks with him, 
but is confused by the conversation of two or 
more people. At school he may be censured for 
the indifference he manifests in recitations ; or 
he may grow mischievous and be given a seat in 
the back of the room to prevent him from 
attracting the attention of other pupils. In that 
case, being farther off from the teacher than be- 
fore, he is less likely to keep up with the grade 
of his class, and is dropped for someone else to 
struggle with. 

Such treatment is undeniably injustice ; and it 
would not be usual if instructors of young chil- 
dren were acquainted with general facts re- 
garding the sense of hearing. A child possessing 
but a small amount of aural power, who has 
once had a good perception of sound, could 



56 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

maintain his place in any ordinary school if, 
from the 'first manifestation of his deafness, he 
were taught to use his eyes in the place of his 
ears. Special instruction would probably be 
necessary in order to give him the general prin- 
ciples of speech -reading ; but it would be well 
for him to be thrown in contact with children of 
good hearing. For the sake of his future, he 
should not be set apart as one necessarily differ- 
ent from others because deaf. He must live 
with hearing people in adult life, take his part 
in the business or professional world, and find 
pleasure in social intercourse with his equals in 
refinement and education. What, therefore, 
could fit him for such experience better than 
school life with children who are not only free 
from defects of aural perception, but whose 
senses are all in normal condition, and whose 
minds are possibly models of symmetry and 
grace ? 



CHAPTER VI. 



HEARING CAN BE IMPROVED AND DEVELOPED. 

INHERE are various kinds of deafness. We 
will consider first that which is due to 
functional disability of the ear. This may be 
serious enough to cause complete loss of hearing, 
or so slight as to be little noticed except by the 
individual himself; between these are many 
degrees. Everyone knows among his acquaint- 
ances persons who are suffering from sudden or 
progressive deafness, dating from a disease such 
as scarlet fever, or from a succession of severe 
colds of a catarrhal nature. We call them hard- 
of -hearing people. They have learned to speak 
in the normal manner, and by that means have 
obtained a knowledge of the structure of the 
language, and are perfectly familiar with lin- 
guistic sounds. In consequence, they can make 
intelligent use of the amount of hearing they 

(57) 



58 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

retain. Such persons can be assisted by means 
of a conversational tube or hearing trumpet. 
Street noises and the rumble of a railroad train 
increase hearing-power in many cases. The 
pleasure arising from the use of these mechani- 
cal aids is oftentimes great enough to cause 
changes in habits and tastes. 

Let us emphasize the fact that all impressions 
conveyed through diseased ears in adults can be 
made use of directly. This is also the case with 
all children who had sufficient hearing to enable 
them to speak at the normal age. All the com- 
plex nervous mechanism necessary for articulate 
speech obtained in the natural manner has been 
set in motion ; the only hindrance is the more 
or less serious inability of the organ of hearing 
to perform its duty. 

If, however, the impaired usefulness of the 
ears should be present in a marked degree in 
very early childhood, it would render impossible 
the months of listening without conscious effort 
by which the speech-faculty is developed in the 
normal human being. We have then an in- 
stance in which the child receives sound impres- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 59 

sions imperfectly, and from the fact that he has 
never known them otherwise, he cannot make 
use of his ability, though it be of the same 
degree possessed by the hard-of -hearing adult. 
He is utterly unaware of its possibilities. He 
is, to all practical purposes, extremely deaf. 
Without special instruction through the eye he 
remains mute. While we believe that the im- 
portance of articulation and speech-reading ob- 
tained in this way cannot be over-estimated, we 
should not forget that all the mental operations 
of the normal human being are attained by very 
different processes. Just as the teacher trains 
the hand in the mysteries of writing, he should 
be prepared to educate to some degree the given 
amount of hearing. We must carry out nature's 
method of teaching the child to hear. What- 
ever mechanical aid proves beneficial should be 
employed. All that is done in this direction is 
rightfully called a means of improving the 
hearing. 

However, an impaired condition of the middle 
ear or of the auditory nerve is not the only cause 
of deafness. There are many instances of chil- 



60 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

dren presenting little or no history of ear-disease. 
It has been usual to believe deafness in such 
cases to be due to malformation or arrested 
development ; many times it is lack of percep- 
tion of sound instead. Presuming the middle 
ear and the auditory nerve to be able to perform 
their functions, if there is a "dormant condition 
of that portion of the brain whose duty is to act 
with them, the consciousness is not reached. 
The child does not know what sound is. He is 
as completely beyond its influence, as we are 
unmindful of the striking of a clock or of some 
other noise when we are deep in a " brown 
study. ' ' 

Here is a serious defect in the perceptive 
functions of the brain. Educative means are 
helpful in arousing some degree of activity in 
these cases. Instrumental aids are not of value. 
Great volume of sound must be avoided, or else 
there is shock and confusion with utter inability 
to distinguish differences. Noise is a source of 
worry. The instruction by ear should be en- 
tirely unaided by the eye, to follow nature's 
plan. If vision and hearing are allowed to work 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 61 

together, no memory for sound is formed, but 
merely another appeal is made to such impres- 
sions as have been obtained through the eye. The 
results are that the pupil retains any peculiarity 
of utterance he may have acquired, and a cer- 
tain amount of tension of the organs of articula- 
tion due to long-enforced thought of them, 
while he can seldom understand a new word 
unless he sees it pronounced. On the contrary, 
instruction which compels the hearing to rely 
upon its single efforts gives in time the power to 
appreciate the various elements of the language ; 
and, as all words are but arrangements of some 
few of these same elements, new ones can be 
repeated as readily as familiar ones. 

This kind of instruction assists the developing 
of hearing. It is slower, and entirely different 
from the educating of that which has become 
impaired by organic disease and is already known 
and appreciated by the individual. Various 
sounds are recognized and enjoyed before the 
human voice is noticed ; the power to determine 
the source of these sounds grows by constant 
practice ; words are heard when spoken near the 



62 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

ear, their familiarity admitting of longer dis- 
tance later ; memorizing of these words finally 
takes place, and even after the child can hear 
and repeat, there is a noticeable slowness in the 
process. Then follows the ability to remember 
several words and to repeat them in the order in 
which they were heard. Later, a complete 
sentence is appreciated, and a reply of some 
kind promptly given. It is evident that rea- 
soning from facts obtained through the hearing 
is much slower in these children for a time than 
is the .case when the information is received 
through speech-reading, thereby proving the 
presence of a new activity. 

Thus, ' ' improvement of hearing ' ' refers to 
relief from functional difficulty, and ' ■ develop- 
ment of hearing ' ' to special mental discipline. 
In cases of functional difficulty, as previously 
mentioned, a gain is perceptible much sooner 
than in the cases of lack of perception. There 
is also much more slowness in the prompting of 
the organs of speech when the latter exists, such 
slowness as to make the practical use of the 
hearing possibly a small one. Yet all must 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 63 

admit that a little hearing is better than none. 
The children's minds have been opened to some 
of the beauties of sound, and words expressive 
of such ideas have assumed a different meaning. 
A parallel is found in those individuals who 
were born blind and have been relieved by 
operations. Reports of such cases are very 
explicit regarding the inability of the patients to 
make use of their new power for a while. They 
were taught to see ; let the deaf be taught to 
hear. 

Remarkable results have followed the careful 
development of the auditory sense in children 
who were previously judged to be wholly deaf. 
Therefore, it is fitting I should urge that hear- 
ing receive the special attention it deserves. 
Instruction is defective which does not include 
the education of every sense. That which enters 
by the eye appeals to the intellect or under- 
standing and thence to the affections; that 
which enters by the ear appeals directly to the 
heart as well as to the understanding. When 
both eye and ear are cultivated there is a sin- 



64 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

gular association between colors and sounds; 
under certain conditions, the exciting of one 
sense increases the acuteness of the other and the 
different sensations reinforce one another. 




CHAPTER VII. 



HOW THE HARD -OF -HEARING ADULT MAY ENJOY 
CONVERSATION. 

" I ^ACT is the great essential for the adult 
who is growing deaf. He needs pres- 
ence of mind on all occasions of social inter- 
course, even if they be limited to members of 
his own family or to business and professional 
associates. In the first place, he should com- 
mand the situation, and not let any person go 
behind him. He must be ready to see who is 
going to speak, and, as far as possible, should 
hold conversation in his own hands. The very 
effort thus to be alert will call out his reserve 
force, and his attentive condition will keep him 
in touch with others. Do not refuse to use 
artificial aids to hearing. Conversational tubes 
and trumpets may not be as commonly employed 

as are eyeglasses and spectacles, but they would 

(65) 



66 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

be nearly as much so if persons who need them 
were willing to show them. Try all, and find- 
ing that some one kind helps you, carry it 
always and adjust it on important occasions, if on 
no others. Do not get into the habit of using 
but one ear ; make an effort to use the poorer 
one sometimes. 

Certain forms of aural trouble, including noises 
in the head, may be relieved by an operation. 
The drum-head is removed, the middle ear 
reached as it can be in no other way, and the 
progress of an insidious disease stopped. This 
operation has been perfected during the past 
seven or eight years; as a rule, many persons 
wait until extreme deafness is present before 
they seek such a method for relief. 

To avoid the fatigue arising from prolonged 
attention, call upon the eye for assistance. The 
sense of hearing is so commonly regarded as the 
only medium through which spoken language is 
understood, that it is difficult for most persons 
to realize the possibility of reaching the same 
result by any other means. The adult slowly 
losing aural perception finds most of the pleas- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 67 

ures of life slipping out of his reach ; he is grad- 
ually but surely shut in upon himself. This is 
because he has not learned to make one sense 
act in place of another. Through hereditary 
influences he has acquired language by the ear ; 
through educative means he may continue to 
enjoy conversation by the eye. Everyone who 
is conscious that his powers of hearing are 
diminishing should remember that the lack of 
one sense may be nearly made up by the in- 
creased acuteness of all the others, and should 
strive to form the habit of looking at the faces 
of those with whom he converses. It is not to 
be expected that the eye will help him at once 
to understand what is said. There is no royal 
road to speech-reading, any more than to music 
or mathematics. We must learn to do slowly 
and surely before we can secure ease and 
rapidity. 

The organs of articulation are more or less 
hidden, but their activity produces effects on 
the muscles of the face. These effects may be 
called pictures ; they are memorized, and the 
eye is trained by practice to follow the chang- 



68 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

ing of one into another and to associate each 
with the sound thus formed. Printed and writ- 
ten words — even the newly-coined ones — are 
but arrangements and rearrangements of the 
simple alphabetical characters ; spoken words 
are groupings of the elementary sounds of the 
language. One familiar with the letters can 
recognize the printed word, and one equally 
familiar with the appearance given to the fea- 
tures by the various elements can grasp the 
spoken word. By a knowledge of the different 
expressions, the eye is enabled to perceive a 
combination of two or more when given slowly ; 
by practice the ability is acquired to follow a 
rapid play of the features. Words are thus 
learned ; next, short colloquial phrases ; and, 
later, whole sentences. Finally, a complete 
thought is thus conveyed to the mind. This is 
illustrated by the fact that in time the pupil 
will give a synonym instead of the actual word 
spoken. This peculiarity is an interesting proof 
of the direct communication between the eye 
and the speech-centre, developed by educative 
means, and finds its parallel in our usual in- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 69 

ability to give the exact words we have heard 
spoken, though we can readily express the 
thought clothed in our own language. 

Speech-reading acquired to this extent is un- 
accompanied by a consciousness of the medium 
through which ideas are conveyed, and becomes 
a thoroughly satisfactory method of communi- 
cation. Those who, from lack of confidence, 
feel that they can never attain this art should 
remember that they did not learn to scan a page 
in a short length of time. They may have for- 
gotten how they were taught to read — if in the 
old-fashioned way, let us hope they have — but 
they may form some idea by taking up the study 
of a foreign language. 

In a public place we see groups of people 
engaged in animated conversation. We see the 
interest in their faces and the expression of their 
eyes; we almost know their words. We may 
know them if we apply the science of physi- 
ognomy, combined with a knowledge of the 
movements articulation gives to the features. 
The eye can take upon itself certain duties of 
the ear. At first it is untrained. To the be- 



70 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

ginner, the motions of the organs of speech are 
too rapid to convey any impression of what is 
said. Their definite positions can be learned, and 
with them the fact is grasped that the varying 
expressions caused by them are flitting pictures 
which, in connection with the language of the 
other facial muscles, transmit the ideas of others 
to the brain of the deaf or partially deaf person. 
One is fully conscious of using a new instru- 
ment; the strangeness of it makes more impres- 
sion than the thought conveyed. Frequent 
journeys over a new path make a beaten track ; 
the notched trees are no longer noticed; one is 
sure of his road, and speeds on his errand. 
Thus, in time, an idea may be received without 
consciousness of the medium by which it was 
conveyed. 

This method of communication has been 
called lip-reading; but more is seen than the 
motions of the lips. It has also been termed 
speech-reading ; but more than speech is con- 
veyed. The spirit of the thought and the em- 
phasis of the voice are transmitted as well as the 
mechanical action of articulation. The appear- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 71 

ance of words on lips and tongue is but a part 
of this expression-reading. A defective audi- 
tory sense is not necessary to the acquiring of 
this art. Articulation-teaching to the deaf de- 
mands a sensitiveness of hearing ; yet probably 
there is no one engaged in the work who does 
not put his knowledge of speech-reading to 
various practical uses. Such teachers are able 
to give valuable aid to adults growing deaf, and 
should be sought by them for the purpose of 
being started rightly in speech-reading. Some 
people can develop an unconscious use of this 
method of communication. They will acknowl- 
edge that they can hear better if they can see 
the face of the person talking ; but in many 
cases they are not convinced of sight acting in 
the place of hearing until experiment has proved 
it beyond a doubt. Instances have occurred of 
such persons understanding conversation con- 
ducted in a low voice while watching faces, 
though shouts made at the same time by unseen 
people at short range did not disturb them. 

Quite as interesting is the statement of some 
persons that they can follow by the eye what is 



72 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

said, if the subject is only made known to them 
in advance by a loud voice or in writing. Simi- 
larity of thought has developed stereotyped forms 
of expression. The vocabulary of the average 
man and woman is limited. Given the conver- 
sationalist and his subject and you have the key 
to his words. This fact explains why conversa- 
tion through the eye to a certain extent can be 
understood by many. If no greater proficiency 
were attainable it would be comfort to the 
thousands, young and old, who to-day are living 
isolated lives in the midst of excitements they 
long to share. However, special instruction 
would assist the diffident ones and put all on 
sure ground. 

Deaf people are sensitive and painfully realize 
the publicity given by talking to them in a loud 
voice. A slight hold on the accomplishment of 
expression -reading would enable them to keep 
in touch with much around them, and a stronger 
command would put them in cordial relations 
with the world's workers. The older people 
regret to see so much slipping away from them ; 
it is hard with ripening experience and fuller 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 73 

appreciation of life to find various interests dis- 
appearing one by one. Statistics show that 
there are in this country an immense number of 
persons under twenty-five who have only re- 
cently grown deaf — young men and young 
women who have never had an opportunity to 
taste what the older ones are relinquishing ! 
Speech -reading can help these people. With 
every incentive to exertion, they can acquire in- 
creased power of observation, make use of a 
new mode of communication, and be better able 
to take their rightful places in the world. 






CHAPTER VIII. 



DULL PUPILS. 

T N the schools there are many dull pupils. 
Why are they dull ? Because an utterance 
of the teacher reaches their consciousness only 
after a considerable interval. Being slow in 
hearing, they are, in consequence, slow in reply- 
ing. They are easily embarrassed ; they forget 
what they were going to say, or fail to make the 
vocal organs obedient servants to their wills. 
The same children frequently show an aptitude 
for work in lines which require a different set 
of faculties. Many a child is considered stupid 
who is merely suffering from a defect in hearing. 
Before classifying pupils it should be the prac- 
tice of teachers to test the children's auditory 
sense. It is equally important to ascertain the 
length of time requisite for each one to prompt 
his vocal organs in imitations; and if it be 

(74) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 75 

longer than normal the faculty should be edu- 
cated to quicker operations. 

Many an adult is obliged to retain a humbler 
place in life than he might occupy if he were 
not slow of comprehension. We do not make 
sufficient allowance for the fact that considerable 
time is necessary for the auditory nerve to carry 
its message to the brain, and that, after it has 
performed its errand, other nerve-centres must 
grasp the meaning of the words heard and 
prompt the right impulse to action or speech. 
Some persons require a longer time than others 
for these mental operations. Public speakers 
sometimes fail to observe this with cultivated 
audiences. Perfectly familiar with the thought 
of their discourse or recitation, they forget that 
it is new to others. They speak rapidly in dis- 
regard of the efforts of their listeners to hear 
the words and telegraph to various parts of the 
mental machinery for light on the meaning ; and 
afterward the speaker wonders why some charm- 
ing poem or patriotic effusion has fallen flat. 
Railroad officials recognize the fact that greater 
speed may be attained in conveying trains over 



76 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

the threads of steel encircling the country, but 
that the limit of human nerve to endure the 
strain of guiding the iron steed has already been 
nearly if not quite reached. The locomotive 
may go more swiftly than the engineer's eye 
can read the signal or his ear perceive the sound 
of danger. 

It is a curious fact that only a small minority 
of people hear well. The large majority possess 
a peculiarity that is oftentimes extremely slight. 
It is not unusual for one aural organ to be in 
better condition than the other ; in this case, the 
difficulty with the poor ear is purely a functional 
disability. There are many persons who have a 
defective musical faculty ; a few are absolutely 
unable to distinguish one tune from another, or 
take refuge in the thought that they do know 
' ' Yankee Doodle ' ' if nothing else. Some who 
readily perceive the sound of the human voice 
cannot hear certain high notes. A curious in- 
stance is that of a leading journalist in the West 
who was twenty-five years old before he knew 
that the singing of birds was not a poetic myth. 
He never was able to hear it, and presumed 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 77 

that others could not do so but that they liked 
to keep up the delusion with regard to canaries 
and robins, though willing to say the death-song 
of the swan might be looked upon as a pleasing 
fiction. One of my pupils, who had great dif- 
ficulty in hearing what was spoken within two 
inches of his ear, always enjoyed the birds' 
morning song. Many can hear a whistle and 
nothing else. 

If the slowness in receiving sound be of 
marked degree, it interferes with the orderly 
growth of the speech-faculty. I have already 
described extreme cases in Chapter YI. , but at 
present I refer to those individuals who know 
there is such a thing as sound and who wish 
to speak but find difficulty in so doing. In some 
cases there is a slowness in receiving sounds and 
in others, in the directing of the vocal organs. 
The various defects in utterance will be con- 
sidered in the following chapters ; the subject of 
our attention now is backwardness in speech due 
to slowness in receiving sounds. I have found 
interesting phases of this peculiarity among my 
pupils. The type may be represented by the 



78 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

case of a boy aged six. He had attended a kin- 
dergarten for two years, but had learned scarcely 
anything. He did not attempt to join in a song. 
He seldom spoke and wha.t he did say was un- 
intelligible except "I no know ' ' in answer to 
any question. He never told of anything he 
had seen. " He has no memory,' 5 his mother 
said. Beyond the amount necessary to make 
him obedient, he had, indeed, no memory for 
linguistic sounds, and was, therefore, at a mental 
standstill. He was taught to speak by showing 
him the movements of the vocal organs, and af- 
terward he learned to hear sounds. He looked 
like another child. His mind was awakened ; 
he proved to have an excellent memory, and in 
six months he could read remarkably well. This 
was a most pronounced case, but there have 
been others just as serious, or nearly so, and it 
is cited to show how much can be overcome. 
Special instruction such as this boy received 
outlines certain educative means by which the 
dull are stimulated. Teachers recognize more 
and more that their work is something different 
from merely hearing recitations. The mental 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 79 

awakening of their pupils is an important trust, 
and one of the chief ways of securing it is skil- 
fully to direct the sense of hearing to perform 
its duties. At the present time sight is receiving 
an undue measure of regard ; every effort is 
being made to teach children to observe. If, 
however, they are backward in speech, it is 
necessary to divert some of this tendency to use 
the eyes; otherwise, all the mental energy is 
spent at the expense of the hearing faculty. 
Children who do not learn to speak well at the 
normal age require careful attention in this re- 
gard. They will either manifest a decided pref- 
erence for seeing, or else grow indifferent and 
become dull and stupid pupils. If one has had 
his development of speech retarded, he is soon 
in the unfortunate position of having ideas 
beyond his verbal expression ; his vocabulary 
increases and soon imposes upon his vocal organs 
the most impossible feats. This is a critical con- 
dition and may, if not properly cared for, lay 
the foundation for stammering. 

Special education of the hearing opens an im- 
portant field for teachers of all classes of chil- 



80 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

dren. Certain requirements must be possessed 
by the one who undertakes this work. The 
most important is a scientifically correct knowl- 
edge of phonetics, by which we mean an accu- 
rate knowledge of the exact positions and ac- 
tions of the vocal organs in speech. Without 
this, it is impossible for the teacher to judge 
from the sounds made by the pupil of the pre- 
cise condition of the various muscles used ; and 
to be unable to do this, prevents him from 
knowing whether the difficulty is a defect in the 
receiving of sounds or a failure to properly 
direct the vocal organs. If primary teachers 
were qualified thus to analyze their pupils' con- 
dition, they could accomplish results that would 
greatly diminish the number of dull scholars in 
the higher classes. A prompt connection be- 
tween the ear and the organs of articulation 
betokens an activity which brightens the 
entire mind ; and in the securing of this, there 
may also be developed a fine appreciation for 
correct sounds in a child previously under the 
pernicious influence of ' ' baby-talk. ' ' 



CHAPTER IX. 



INVENTED OR ' ' PATHOLOGICAL ' ' LANGUAGE. 

/OCCASIONALLY we hear of a child who 
^-^^ has apparently invented a language of 
his own. A London medical journal has given 
to this peculiar speech the name of ' ' pathological 
language." It is unintelligible except to the 
child that originates it, and offers little or no 
resemblance to the language he has heard 
spoken. A number of such children have been 
under my care ; all of them acquired distinct- 
ness of speech in a comparatively short time. 
They had been unable to profit by attendance at 
school while suffering from this peculiar con- 
dition, but after attaining fluency of utterance 
their progress was rapid. Bearing in mind the 
fact already emphasized, that there can be no 
orderly progress in mental development without 

language, it is easy to understand how these 

(81) 



88 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

children were handicapped. A language un- 
intelligible to others necessarily failed to give 
expression to their ideas. Utterly without a 
medium of communication with those about 
them, except in the simple signs to which they 
resorted, they were unhappy indeed. Some of 
these children appeared to have feeble, flabby 
tongues, and others a lingual member too large 
for their mouths. Many of them were strong 
and energetic in body ; a few were delicate, and 
slower in learning to speak well. 

It is not uncommon for a child imperfectly to 
pronounce certain sounds of the language ; many 
a little one fails on s and says "'orry" or 
" thorry " for "sorry." A peculiarity not so 
frequent is the habitual use of some one portion 
of the vocal organs in place of another, after the 
individual is far beyond babyhood. A case in 
point was that of a boy of twelve, who was un- 
able to use in speech that part of the tongue be- 
tween the top and point which is employed in 
forming s and s, and who had an over-activity 
of the back of the organ. In consequence, he 
made k or g and occasionally h in place of the 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 83 

above-mentioned letters. When he spoke sen- 
tences containing few hissing sounds, it was quite 
easy to understand him. " I go to study sounds ' ' 
became " I go to hudy hounk. " " Sister ' ■ was 
pronounced ' ' higter. ? ' It was plain that he 
meant "It is a pleasant day," when he said, 
u It ig a pleagant day ; " it was far more diffi- 
cult to understand him, however, when the 
simple question "Is Augustus sick?" was 
changed to ' ' Ig Auhugtug hick ? ' ' He was a 
bright, sensible boy, keenly alive to the amuse- 
ment his peculiar utterance afforded his play- 
mates. A physician had said that in his opinion 
the difficulty was due to an unusually high arch 
of the hard-palate and, therefore, without remedy 
unless a plate were inserted. Unfortunately, 
such a decision has been made in other instances ; 
but a false roof in the mouth does not improve 
such speech. Control of the tongue is needed. 
In this case, as with others, a correct pronun- 
ciation was attained by special instruction. 

A curious phase was presented by a girl of 
thirteen, who had attempted to speak German 
as well as English, both being spoken in the 



84 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

family. She suffered from marked unwieldiness 
of tongue, and these efforts proving futile, she 
developed a language possessing many sounds 
of English and German, which was utterly un- 
intelligible to others. 

Believing that the instances of invented or 
' ' pathological ' ' language, so-called, are of the 
nature of those just mentioned, though differing 
in degree, I have critically analyzed their ele- 
ments, and taken notes in the symbols of Bell's 
system of scientific phonetics. These symbols 
are based on the positions of the vocal organs 
assumed in articulating, and are known as Visible 
Speech or Universal Alphabetics. Two of the 
most interesting cases were brothers, eight and 
six and a half years old. They were bright 
boys, energetic in manner, manifesting no pecul- 
iarity other than that of defective articulation. 
Often the parents and nurse failed to under- 
stand their simplest wants, and never were able 
to make out their descriptions of any sight or 
occurrence. The elder boy developed a tend- 
ency to gesticulate ; the younger was becoming 
morbidly sensitive. They understood each other 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 85 

at all times, having a language of their own 
equal to all their demands. When talking to- 
gether, their speech was rapid, but when re- 
quested they would repeat a word or a sentence 
for me slowly a number of times, always giving 
it in exactly the same way no matter how fre- 
quently it was called for. Their education was 
at a standstill. Efforts had been made to instruct 
the older boy ; the result was utterly discoura- 
ging. The children belonged to a cultivated 
family, who highly appreciated the importance 
of a liberal education ; jet by reason of their 
peculiarity of speech, they were absolutely out 
of reach of any school benefits. I quote from 
my note-book. Two pronunciations of the same 
word are given in some instances, which indicate 
a difference of articulative action in these 
brothers, but still the sounds are so nearly alike 
that the resemblance may be easily traced : 

Wee wah Ah-wah'-wee — Lexington Avenue. 

Papa Jcah koo kd — Papa brought him some. 

Kee'-ya mah moo-lxo! -ya opu gaya f — See 
my moustache over there ? 



86 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

# 

E ' waw Md'-e-waw Ah-wah-wee — We walked 

on Madison Avenue. 

Ah dee dah Ah-wd-ya dee dah da'-ya — I am 
going to tell Alice to sit down there. 

Mamma hah da' -leu — Mamma lias a headache. 

Kali goo, led leee goo — That is good, very good. 

Dah dee nah wu — That is a nice one. 

Ah %oee gaiv koo — I had gone to school. 

Kah kee koo kee'-ya — Someone is in there. 

Kd-hoo bit mil — Thank you very much. 

Ah haw koo pd'-ya — I like to play; 

Wu wee wu-daw' — We saw out of the window. 

Mamma de da mu dee moo — Mamma taught 
that to me this morning. 

E wah dah wah-gu — He lay down on the sofa. 

E wah Way a — We walk with Alice. 

Koo kaw kee-kee — New York City. 

Ah dah bepu — I have breakfast. 

Pajpa kaw ah — Papa taught me. 

Pa goo bah — Pretty good boy. 

Pee jpa-ya — Piece of bread. 

Koo-e ka-ya — New Year's cake. 

Paw Bah — Post Office. 

Bee-ba — Speak plain. 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 8? 

Goo pa koo — Eew pair of shoes. 

Da bee goo — That is good. 

Opu ga'-ya — Over there. 

Ah wall — Three yards. 

Bu hah — Build houses. 

Ma-bee — Mantelpiece. 

Doo 7)100 ) 

1- \ — Good morning. 

Koo-moo -ya ) 

Koo-d-ngoo ) 

t, w f — Good afternoon, 

JJoo-a-noo ) 

Dd-wd'-we — January. 

We-wee — February. 

Doo-wd'-ya 

Koo-wa -ya 

Da' -da ) 

Ka'-M }- Sunda y- 

Maw' da ) 

Maw'-M |- Monda y- 

Koo-ha — Tuesday. . 

Wu-dd ) 

-tttv 7 v r — Wednesday. 
Wu-Jea ) J 

Goo-Ted — Thursday. 

Baw'-kd — Friday. 

Kd-ee-La — Saturday. 



| _J U 1 7 . 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 



-Sugar. 



Wah — One. 
Koo — Two. 
Kyee — Three. 
Paw — Four. 
Pah — Five. 
Eee'-ya — Six. 
Ed-kee' '-ya — Seven. 

Wd-ya — Eight. 

Wd mah — Last month. 

Wd-ngah — Last night. 
Doo-dd '-ya 
Eoo-dd ' -ya 
Bu-wd! -ya — Banana. 
Aw-lcd'-ya — Orange. 
Md-ya-wu — Macaroons. 

Waw-mee' -ya — Oatmeal. 
Jf£_Meat. 
Bepu — Breakfast. 
Baw — Butter. 
Pu-kd-hu — Potato. 

Wd-ya — Lamp. 

Waw-pah — Umbrella. 

E 

Eh 



— Nine. 



Nah 
Ngah 
Ed— Ten. 

Wd-kee-kah — Eleven. 
Ea'-hee — Twenty. 
Eu-lcee — Thirty. 
Aw-daw' 
Aw-gaw' 



-Why. 









-Yes. 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 89 

Gah-haw — Forgot. 

Wah haw pah — 145. 

Analysis reveals the fact that the sounds used 
in the foregoing list are formed, almost without 
exception, by the lips and the back of the 
tongue. The exceptions are the vowels e long 
and a short, and the consonants d, n and y. E 
requires the top of the tongue, which is in close 
relation to the back, to be raised very nearly to 
the hard-palate or roof of the mouth. This 
position accompanied by friction of the voice, 
instead of a steady vowel-quality, gives y as in 
the word yes. The latter was an exceedingly 
frequent sound in these children's language. 
Short a is a front vowel, but requires a low 
position of the tongue. D and n were not formed 
correctly, by raising the front edge of the tongue 
to the upper gum, but by a forward pressure of 
the entire organ, as it lay in the bed of the jaw, 
against the lower front teeth. The absence of 
the sounds of s, 2, sh, I, r, and others common 
in English will be noticed. It was impossible 
for either child, when asked, to lift the point of 
the tongue to the upper gum or to push the 



90 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

organ forward far enough to touch the lips ; yet 
both were able to manage it properly for the 
purposes of mastication. 

These children showed no defect in the per- 
ceptive functions of the brain. The) could locate 
sounds with ease, enjoyed being read to and 
looked forward to the story-telling hour. They 
frequently accompanied their father in walks 
and drives, showing an interest in their sur- 
roundings; but inability to express themselves 
was becoming a saddening circumstance in their 
lives. Another proof of the correctness of their 
powers of hearing and their intention to imitate 
and not to invent was manifested in their con- 
sciousness that what they said w T as not right. 
As an example, I asked them once how many 
books were on the table, they answered unhesi- 
tatingly, "Kee-ya." " No, " I said, " not kee- 
ya; there are six." They assented quickly, 
repeating ' ' kee-ya ' ' with emphasis. I said 
" kee-ya " in reply, but they told me that was 
not right. They knew I had pronounced the 
word in their way, but showed most unmistak- 
ably that they realized how widely different it 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 91 

was from what they had attempted to say. They 
were so distressed that it was necessary to turn 
the subject quickly. 

It seemed clear that the condition of these 
boys was the result of serious disturbance in the 
speech-impulse, due, perhaps, to a congenital 
defect ; and that the brain had failed to bring 
under control certain portions of the organs of 
speech. They were taught to use the disabled 
parts and gradually obtained complete mastery 
of the various actions necessary for correct artic- 
ulation. As an interesting indication of the 
stage of transition through which they passed, I 
add a list of words as pronounced by them in 
rapid conversation with each other, after they 
were able, by taking extreme care, to speak 
comparatively well. 

Kd he na cat — That is the name of the cat. 

Awbaw Jcee mee wah — About the middle of 
the week. 

Wah aw bd-haw — Write on the blackboard. 
Wah gd gam-law-ade — One glass of lemonade. 

Mamma led me-lcd f -ya — Mamma made a mis- 
take. 



92 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

Three pe '-ya he ga'ya — Three pieces are there. 

Ka he he — That is a check. 

Dee too pa mo — This tooth pained most. 

Ka hee koo hah hee'-ya-ha — If that is too 
hard bring it back. 

Letter day my collar gu-lee — Yesterday my 
collar was dirty. 

Ka he tee (t) ; where, ka he w — That is t ; in 
where there is a w. 

Ine hu a-wiminee — I never studied arithmetic. 

Bee ha pa — Head that page. 

Noo Kaw Tick- Tee-lee — New York City. 

Wd-ku pd-gu — Asphalt pavement. 

Waw Pain — White Plains. 

Maw Bu — Mount Yernon. 

Wee hee — Elevated. 

Kit koo — Little cool. 

Gdm-d! -ya — Gentleman. 

Tack-tee-haw — Twenty-five. 

Waw-ee-eng — One hundred. 

De- tu — D en ti st . 

Dah-ee — Stockings. 

Be tah ) 

Be-kah - B,anket 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 93 

■Tah! tah — Collar. 

Gaw-he — Strawberries. 

Ka-sing — Same thing. 

Gd-gaw — Santa Clans. 

Kd-aw — Drive the horse. 

Ken — Then. 

It will be noticed that grammatical errors 
were committed. The boys rapidly acquired 
the art of arranging words correctly in sentences ; 
and in a few months were able to take their 
rightful place in school. From extreme unin- 
telligibility they grew into a surprisingly correct 
and fluent utterance. In common with other 
persons possessing a similar peculiarity, they 
lost all recollection of their former language. 
In it there were no personal pronouns, no pos- 
sessive case, and only one conjunction, namely, 
"ku" for "and." 



-si#Is-~ 



CHAPTER X. 



LISPING AND CARELESS SPEECH IN GENERAL. 

A LISP is not pleasing in an adult, however 
charming it may be in the child just 
beginning to talk. Many an agreeable impres- 
sion is dispelled when a stranger opens his lips 
and exposes an infantile pronunciation. Clear, 
crisp articulation is in keeping with the dignity 
of business, professional, and social life. It is 
to be expected that childish things have been 
put away, even if there be lacking the finish and 
ease in which the cultivated ear delights. Lisp- 
ing is caused by wrong management of the 
tongue, and is a sure indication of pronounced 
forward action of the organ. The individual 
who lisps places his lingual member in positions 
that change the pitch of all breath-consonants, 
and, consequently, injure the vocal quality of 

the others and mar the beauty of the vowels. 

(94) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 95 

Granting that in some instances there may have 
been unusual helplessness of the tongue, the 
defective utterance known as lisping is caused 
in the main by lack of proper attention on the 
part of parents and teachers during the pupil's 
early years. 

There is a surprising want of knowledge 
among instructors of little children regarding 
the principles of articulation, which might be 
excusable among the educators in higher grades, 
who are not supposed to give attention to ele- 
mentary work, but which is lamentable among 
those who have an important influence in the 
formation of lifelong habits. With all due 
respect # for the sanction which some prominent 
instructors give to the sentence- method of teach- 
ing pupils to read, I fear it will only increase 
the slovenly speech of American children. Not 
that I would advocate the old method of teach- 
ing the alphabet. On the contrary, I would 
urge that teaching to read be an exercise founded 
on knowledge of the mechanism of speech. 

Perhaps a brief analysis of the elements of 
articulation may explain the matter. Voice, as 



96 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

we already know, is the vocalized emission of 
breath. Any single, open position of the mouth 
will mold the voice into some vowel-sound, and 
can be prolonged to the limit of the breath, 
though such an exercise should be indulged in 
with caution. Consonants are formed by the 
lips or by some portion of the tongue, which 
more or less obstructs the current of vocalized 
or un vocalized breath. Therefore, within the 
cavity of the mouth there must be many delicate 
movements and agile changes of positions during 
the act of speaking. Let us analyze a word, 
taking ' ' black ' : as an example. The first 
sound, 5, requires a gentle closing of the lips, 
which is maintained while the breath is being 
vocalized in the glottis. As the mouth opens, 
the tip of the tongue must be raised to the upper 
gum in such a manner as to allow free egress of 
the voice on both sides of the organ, for the I. 
A free, flattened condition of the front half of 
the unruly member must be obtained for the 
vowel a ; and the back of the tongue must be 
raised against the soft-palate and lowered with 
an expulsion of breath, to complete the word. 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 97 

Are we to be conscious of all these intricate 
operations when talking ? Certainly not. Yet 
a knowledge of their movements should be 
familiar to those who direct the early articulative 
efforts of the child ; they could then skilfully 
lead him through difficulties, instead of allowing 
him to struggle without assistance. "We are 
carefully taught how to use our feet in the won- 
derful process of alternate falling and balancing 
which is termed walking. Hours are set apart 
for particular instruction in the art of dancing. 
Gymnastic exercises are deemed worthy of the 
wise direction of the medical mind. There are 
innumerable accomplishments and arts which, in 
the judgment of parents, demand a special in- 
structor. "Why should the divine gift of speech 
be left to unguided instinct ? The young child 
is at the mercy of his models in articulation. 
Should they be defective through carelessness or 
from a serious impediment, his ear becomes 
accustomed to wrong standards; later, he will 
have much to unlearn. Should he be favorably 
situated in this respect and hear correct pronun- 
ciation almost constantly, his effort will be to 



98 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

copy his ideal. It is generally conceded that 
the early surroundings of children influence the 
grammatical construction of their sentences, and 
that the best schools cannot impart a spontane- 
ous use of good language, such as may be un- 
consciously assimilated from example in the 
home. To some extent, the same principle 
holds good with the voice and articulation ; but 
the primary teacher bears a heavy responsibility. 
Foreigners severely and justly criticise the 
American voice. They say it is loud, sharp, 
frequently nasal, and usually uncultivated. 
There is musical appreciation enough in our 
nation to prevent these peculiarities, and it lies 
with the teachers of the rising generation to 
work a tremendous change in this respect. They 
certainly can do it. It may be very well to ex- 
cuse ourselves with vague generalities about our 
national nervousness and constant stir and push 
in life. Such being our state of existence, the 
children should be taught to conserve their force. 
They should not extravagantly expend their 
vitality in wrong efforts, by which they become 
breathless and their vocal bands are strained. 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 99 

Correct articulation is a means of mental 
development, and exercises to insure it have a 
beneficial effect upon all the nerves, making 
them more expressive agents of the mind. Cor- 
rect articulation also leads directly to correct use 
of language, whereby are revealed culture and 
refinement. 

The efforts of the teacher in the schoolroom 
can remove the peculiarities of slovenly speech 
and raise a pupil's standard of what is proper ; 
but it requires more thorough knowledge than 
could be generally obtained to remedy serious 
defects in utterance. Stuttering and stammering 
demand the attention of the specialist, and 
doubtless the same is true in all instances of 
marked inability to use some one or more por- 
tions of the articulating organs. Yet even the 
teacher of primary grades, after experience with 
children, could render great assistance to persons 
whose utterance and handwriting have been 
changed by serious illnesses affecting the brain. 
Careful speech-training has restored these func- 
tions entirely. Defects in articulation that are 
due to a paralytic condition may be somewhat 



100 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

helped but are not included in the list of cura- 
ble cases, except in young children. 

English has been called a hissing language. 
However much the fastidious foreigner may 
criticise this peculiarity, the native ear objects 
to a flattening of the sound of s. Let it be clear. 
A lisping articulation would utterly fail to give 
the desired effect of insects' buzzing in H. H. 's 
i l Sonnet to August : ' ' 

"Silence again. The glorious symphony 

Hath need of pause and interval of peace. 

Some subtle signal bids all sweet sounds cease, 

Save hum of insects' aimless industry. 

Pathetic summer seeks by blazonry 

Of color to conceal her swift decrease. 

Weak subterfuge ! Each mocking day doth fleece 

A blossom, and lay bare her poverty. 

Poor middle-aged summer ! " 



-*J#H- 



CHAPTER XI. 



STUTTERING AND STAMMERING. 

OPASMODIC conditions distinguish the de- 
^"^ fects of speech known as stuttering, stam- 
mering, and convulsive hesitation. This fact 
alone denotes a deranged nerve-function without 
the existence of muscular or even nerve-lesions. 
The individual may talk smoothly for a con- 
siderable time and suddenly be seized with a 
paroxysm severe enough to distress the beholder, 
or with an utter inability to speak, or with a rapid 
repetition of the initial sound of a word. The 
difficulty lies in a disturbance in the regulation 
of the speech-impulse. 

It is not unusual for a child to show a tendency 
to stutter in his comparatively early efforts to 
talk, but seldom in his very first attempts. 
There seems to be a time when the child's ideas 
flow faster than his vocal organs can act, and he 

(101) 



102 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

splutters through the story he wishes to tell. 
Then is the critical moment. He should \>e 
stopped with great gentleness to avoid startling 
him, and told to go over the words again. ~No 
allusion should be made to his impediment ; on 
the contrary, he should simply be told that he 
was not understood and that attention will be 
paid to him if he goes through the sentence 
again. Under this quieting influence, he will 
speak smoothly. He will stop to consider what 
he wanted to say, decide upon the words, and 
then give a prompt but not hurried impulse to 
his articulating organs. Never under any cir- 
cumstances let him hear remarks about his de- 
fective utterance. He should not have that 
held up to his alert, imitative faculties. Instead 
of that he needs, more than other children, a con- 
stant repetition of correct forms of expression. 

Do not tire of repeating sentences to him. 
Remember that by that exercise alone you are 
keeping fresh in his memory the words he should 
use ; the of tener he hears them the easier it will 
be for him to repeat them. A direct connection 
is thus established between his ear and his or- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 103 

gans of articulation ; he will not have to stam- 
mer mentally in a blind seeking for his words. 
It is not well to give him too full a vocabulary ; 
he might lose time in selecting from it. Hence, 
he should be taught to command a few expres- 
sions with precision and accuracy. 

Unfortunately, this course is seldom pursued 
in instances of stammering among young chil- 
dren. Too often they are harshly reprimanded, 
and more frequent reference is made to their 
mistakes than to their successful speech. It is 
not unusual for parents to say that they know 
their children are not in the least sensitiye about 
their defect because it has been commonly dis- 
cussed in the family circle ; and that, if they 
were only willing to make an effort, they could 
speak as smoothly as anyone. 

The speech-impulse being disturbed, the vari- 
ous parts of the vocal apparatus are put under 
an uneven strain. The tongue becomes clumsy ; 
or there is difficulty in managing the contraction 
and relaxation of the vocal bands ; or, through 
wrong action of the intercostal and other mus- 
cles, defective circulation and respiration com- 






104 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

plicate matters. All of these peculiarities re- 
quire careful attention from the specialist. No 
pains should be spared in securing relief from 
these conditions for every child. It will not 
suffice to wait for him to cure himself. Some 
resolute souls may have conquered this impedi- 
ment, but they are few in number compared to 
the many who continue to suifer in various 
ways from this great disadvantage. 

Some parents severely but unconsciously hurt 
their children's feelings by telling them that they 
must take their pleasure in expression by writ- 
ing instead of by speech ; as if that medium of 
communication alone could satisfy ! The moral 
effect of the stammering habit is the develop- 
ment of secretiveness ; and this element of char- 
acter should be dealt with gently while the 
distressing impediment continues. 

It will be seen that stuttering and stammering 
are difficulties in expression, and not in the per- 
ceptive functions; yet their variable quality 
and intermittent character show a wide differ- 
ence between them and the peculiarity described 
as invented language. However, the habit of 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 105 

stammering may develop in a child whose speech 
has been retarded by the latter phase of defective 
utterance or by a slowness in receiving sounds, 
because of the fact that his ideas are beyond the 
ability of his articulating organs. A little care 
will prevent disastrous results. In some cases, 
the difficulty in regulating speech has been in- 
creased by a feeble condition of body due to 
illness or a weak constitution. In consequence, 
there may exist flabbiness of tongue, unwieldi- 
ness of the cheek- muscles, a relaxed state of 
the soft- palate or a stiff action of the lips. 
These complications demand extra care on the 
part of the specialist. It should be remembered 
that the brain is the controlling agent, and that, 
therefore, all exercises must be gone through by 
the pupil while in full sympathy and effort, and 
that they should be based on the method by 
which the normal child passes necessarily through 
the stages of speech-development. The weakest 
point in the articulating organs should next 
receive attention. It is absolutely necessary 
that the pupil be taught to exert his will-power 
in directing the vocal organs. 



106 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

While enfeebled by illness, a child has some- 
times been subjected to a great fright, a severe 
fall, or to some form of ill-treatment, and a 
stutter or stammer will be one of the effects. 
Children who possess an unusual amount of the 
imitative faculty have been known to contract 
an impediment of speech, sometimes through the 
unconscious influence of the habit in others, and 
often after mimicking the peculiarity. 

Adult stammerers may be relieved to some 
extent, and, under favorable circumstances, 
cured. There are certain habits manifested by 
them besides those already mentioned. The 
head is badly managed ; it is thrown upward 
during the act of speaking and is unstable. Some 
persons hold the mouth wide open at times, as 
if unable to close it ; others keep the lower jaw 
raised too high, leaving but a narrow aperture 
for the voice and decidedly cramped quarters 
for the tongue to move about in; while the 
faces of most stammerers twitch and quiver at 
times. Stammerers inflate only the upper part 
of the lungs, and are thus unable to take a long 
breath without raising their shoulders. To 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 107 

remedy this condition it would be well to prac- 
tice a simple exercise ; and this is said advisedly, 
because much harm may follow the injudicious 
use of certain breathing-exercises. The safe 
exercise is done while the pupil is standing erect, 
the arms being slowly raised until the backs of 
the hands touch over the head, while the mouth 
is closed and the breath inhaled through the 
nose; then the arms are slowly dropped to the 
sides during a long exhalation. As the attention 
is fixed upon the arms which are well raised, the 
lungs have an opportunity for unrestricted play. 
This exercise might be practiced to advantage 
perhaps twenty times night and morning. The 
habit of correct breathing will be slowly acquired 
by this means, and it will be normal because 
no attempt has been made forcibly to innate 
the lungs. 

At all times when a difficulty is experienced 
in talking, the lips should be lightly closed. 
Then, before opening them to speak, a natural 
inhalation, not a deep one, will be taken, and 
will greatly relieve the speaker. A desirable 
accomplishment is the careful " spinning out ' 5 



108 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

of the breath. Too often there is an extrava- 
gant waste -of it while the cords are slowly ad- 
justed for the formation of voice. Yocalization 
should take place immediately after the mouth 
is opened. 

To the adult, knowledge of the principles of 
correct speech is of great value. He can then 
analyze the effects upon the various parts of his 
vocal apparatus which have been brought about 
by unguided efforts to struggle with his diffi- 
culty. By degrees, the action of his lips, the 
point, top and back of his tongue, his soft- 
palate and cords, may be controlled through will- 
power, assisted by an intelligent perception of 
the duty of each part. 

As a rule, the stammerer maintains a high 
position of the larynx. This organ should rise 
and fall without tension. It is most depressed 
during the sounding of the vowel do, and much 
beauty of expression is assured by its freedom 
of action. Its depression causes a deepening of 
the voice. Unequal strain, which is the result 
of blind struggle, can be overcome only by 
wisely directed exercises ; an equilibrium is thus 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 109 

established, and may be maintained by care. 
For a while, relapses must be expected. A 
habit of years cannot be removed by the efforts 
of a few hours. Patience and practice, how- 
ever, are essentials that in time bring their own 
reward. 



% 




CHAPTER XII. 



CLEFT PALATES. 

IT* HE soft-palate performs a very important 
function in the act of articulation. It is 
a curtain-like adjustment in the back of the 
mouth, and is connected with the hard-palate or 
roof. There are but three elements of the 
English language which require the current of 
voice to be directed through the nose ; they are 
represented by m, n, and ng. Upon the soft- 
palate rests the duty of preventing any nasal 
quality in the other sounds. Refinement, and 
it is hardly too much to say intelligibility, of 
speech are thus directly due to the activity of 
this organ. If it is even slightly cleft, the articu- 
lation is sadly affected. Unfortunately, that con- 
dition is seldom confined to a small space, but is 
frequently carried through the hard-palate, and, 
in some instances, the jaw, and even the nostril 

(110) 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. Ill 

and the lip. In the latter case, the name 
■ ' hare-lip ' ' is used to describe the appearance. 
The cleft, being present from birth, nnless 
operated npon, will interfere with the normal 
development of the entire upper portion of the 
mouth. In short, there will be practically no 
roof to the oral cavity, and correct speech is an 
impossibility. Food finds its way into the nasal 
passages from the month. The individual thus 
strangely afflicted shuns society and is shut out 
of all professional and most business pursuits. 
With him, existence itself becomes of little 
value. As will be readily understood, speech 
in these cases is defective wholly on account of 
the malformation. 

An operation may be performed in such cases 
during infancy or early childhood, but it is one 
requiring exceedingly careful handling. If 
rightly managed, the two parts are so brought 
together that a complete roof is formed for the 
mouth, and it grows with the child's general 
growth. Often, however, there is a breaking 
away of the stitches, caused sometimes by the 
patient's crying, and a consequent irregular 



112 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

pulling in various portions of the palate. There 
are instances of such an inadequate supply of 
material that the surgeon's efforts may, indeed, 
result in a roof for the mouth, but there exists 
a stretched, meagre apology for a soft-palate, 
which is completely useless for the purposes of 
articulation. A slight cleft may be operated 
upon to advantage even comparatively late in 
life ; but the advice of an experienced specialist 
should be sought at the earliest moment if an 
infant is found to possess any abnormality of the 
mouth. 

Even if the operation should be entirely suc- 
cessful, it will be necessary for the individual to 
receive special instruction in articulation. A 
complete roof to the mouth and a soft-palate of 
the proper size will not enable him to speak 
correctly. The voice will be as nasal as before, 
and the enunciation no less peculiar. The 
newly-formed curtain cannot perform its duties ; 
seamed with a scar, it hangs limp and expres- 
sionless. It may seem ridiculous to expect any 
expression in a soft-palate; but, in truth, few 
people know how it ought to look, The ex- 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 113 

perienced eye can detect, upon close examina- 
tion, the habits even of this organ, just as it 
can tell by the shape of a mouth whether or not 
its owner speaks well. The normal soft-palate 
is in constant action during speech ; its edges 
must be dropped whenever an m, n or ng is to 
be sounded, and quickly raised to turn the 
vocal current from the opening to the nasal pas- 
sages in all other sounds of our language. The 
palate secured by an operation must be trained 
to the performance of this duty. Judicious ex- 
ercises strengthen it ; more flexibility of move- 
ment is obtained, and, by degrees, it becomes 
shapely and agile. 

In instances of this kind, much care must be 
given to the tongue. Before the operation the 
back of that organ was never correctly employed 
in articulation, for the very good reason that 
there was nothing present for it to touch, no 

OX 7 

matter how high it may have been raised. After 
a curtain has been formed, the lingual member 
must be exercised in efforts to meet it. 

When a soft- palate is formed by surgical aid^ 
special knowledge is requisite for training it to 



114 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

the successful performance of its functions ; that 
knowledge, however, can accomplish the desired 
results with surprising promptness. In a com- 
paratively short time the parents may forget 
their child's former affliction. 

Supposing a cleft to be very serious, or that 
it has been neglected through ignorance of the 
importance of an early operation, excellent re- 
sults may be obtained by means of an artificial 
roof to the mouth. A dentist can make such 
an appliance almost as easily as a set of false 
teeth. However, he should exercise great care 
in shaping it. As far as possible the grade or 
curve of the normal palate should be reproduced, 
in order that the voice may be properly guided 
out of the mouth. The back portion should be 
very thick, and, consequently, hollow, to pre- 
vent undue heaviness. The thickness is neces- 
sary to keep the breath from too freely entering 
the nasal passages. It will be remembered that 
the artificial appliance cannot act as the natural 
palate does; hence, to prevent nasality, there 
must be bulk enough to the former to serve as 
an obstruction in the passage to the nose, and 



DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 115 

at the same time, an extra effort must be ex- 
erted by the muscles of the pharynx to divert 
the current of vocalized or unvocalized breath, 
and throw it forward into the cavity of the 
mouth. The result of this achievement is a 
deepening of the tone, which is a most delight- 
ful contrast tathe previous twang. Of course, 
the aid of a specialist is needed in these cases, 
and such aid enables the pupil to speak with 
correctness and ease, and to feel that his former 
condition need not be known. 

There may be considerable nasality in a voice, 
even if the palate is not cleft. Sometimes a 
flabby condition exists and consequent inade- 
quate action of the organ, which is manifest in 
the speech. That state* can be overcome with 
ease. Gymnastics for the soft-palate may be 
somewhat unknown, but they are certainly 
deserving of respectful attention. The nasal 
twang, in certain cases, is the effect of in- 
juries received in childhood. A broken nose 
may apparently leave no more serious result 
than a somewhat disfigured member. Such is 
the formation of this important feature, how- 



116 DEFECTIVE SPEECH AND DEAFNESS. 

ever, that the blow may interfere with its normal 
development, and produce an unevenness of 
growth and consequent crookedness in the nasal 
passages. A deviated septum and some other 
conditions due to such an injury may be oper- 
ated upon to advantage. Hypertrophied turbi- 
nates, diseased tonsils and adenoid growths are 
other causes affecting both voice and articulation, 
and may be prevented and sometimes removed 
by proper hygienic measures. 

It is well to remember that, just as good speech 
requires a complete absence of nasal quality in 
all the sounds of our language except three, it 
also demands a healthful condition of the air- 
chambers and other resonators of the voice, 
which occupy about one- third of the space 
covered by the face. 



# 



